Physiological and Kinematic Measurements to Develop New Wheel-chair Badminton

Abstract

As the official event of Paralympics in the Tokyo 2020 Games, para-badminton competition population is increasing. Among them, wheelchair tennis and wheel chair badminton are also sports that use wheelchairs, but there are big differences in how to use the wheelchair. There is, however, no big difference between the wheelchair for tennis and the wheelchair for badminton. The research aims of this study were kinematics and physiological measurement that can contribute to the development of new wheelchair for badminton. More specifically, motion capture was used for kinematic measurement, and changes due to differences in movement of the player and wheelchair were evaluated from the viewpoint of acceleration at each joint of player. We used a new wheelchair designed to fit the physique of the player and an old wheelchair that is on the market. Furthermore, strokes and swings were classified according to the flexion angle of the elbow joint. As a result, it was confirmed that the new wheelchair player exceeded the acceleration of the old wheelchair, and the maximum speed of swing motion and the operation time were shortened. Therefore, the usefulness of the new wheelchair was shown.